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Thursday, August 16, 2012

The obligation to set aside the mandated
tithes, and to give charity regularly are basic tenets in the life of a Jew. The
Torah instructs us, “You shall tithe the entire crop of your planting, the
produce of the field, year by year. And you shall eat before Hashem, your G-d,
in the place that He will choose to rest His Name there- the tithe of your
grain, your wine, and your oil, and the firstborn of your cattle and your flocks,
so that you will learn to fear Hashem, your G-d, all the days.”[1]

Da’as Zekinim writes that when one separates
the obligatory tithes the remainder of the produce becomes legally his.
However, if one hoards everything and does not tithe his produce then it is all
considered G-d’s and the farmer possesses no ownership over any of it.

The Nachalas Tzvi explains that the entire
world and everything contained within it essentially has only one purpose - to
sanctify G-d’s Name. It is only when one recognizes that all he possesses is a
gift from G-d, that he is allowed to bear a sense of ownership over those
gifts. This is why the verse which instructs about the obligation to tithe
concludes, “So that you will learn to fear Hashem, your G-d, all the days.” The
constant separation of tithes serves as a perennial reminder that the world
really belongs to G-d and that He is allowing us to utilize what is His.

The Da’as Zekinim continues by pointing out
an anomaly in regard to the mitzvah of tithes and giving charity. As a rule,
one is not permitted to “test G-d” by saying that he will perform a mitzvah on
condition that G-d grant him some sort of blessing or compensation. Such a
bargain is deemed brazen and disrespectful. However, in regard to charity one
is permitted to “test G-d” in such a manner and charity given solely so that
one be worthy of specific blessing is even considered a mitzvah. Thus, when one
gives charity he is receiving more than he is giving, for charity and assisting
others is an important means in being able to solicit blessing and goodness for
one’s self.

The great Kelmer Maggid once ascended the
pulpit in a wealthy hamlet and encouraged the townsfolk to donate generously to
the cause he was collecting funds for. He pointed to the verse which states,
(15:11) “For destitute people will not cease to exist within the Land;
therefore I command you saying, ‘You shall surely open your hand to your
brother, to your poor, and to your destitute in your Land’.” The Maggid looked sharply
at his listeners, “The Torah promises that there will always be poor and needy
people. If you know of impoverished people among your brethren, realize that
they are fulfilling that role. Help them so that they do not perish for, if
they do, it just may be you who will need to fulfill the promise of the verse.”

In a similar vein, Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer
zt’l would afford great respect and would exert great effort to assist anyone
who knocked on his door to solicit funds for any purpose. He once explained to
a disciple, “Do not think that the reason I sit at my table with the comforts
of my home is because I possess so much more wisdom than the poor man who is
compelled to solicit funds and knock at my door. Rather, it is because the
Torah has guaranteed that there will never be a dearth of poor people; it was
built into the fabric of society. The poor man fulfills his mission by knocking
on doors, while I am lucky to fulfill my mission in alternative and more
respectful ways. However, if not for the fact that he was fulfilling his
mission, perhaps I would be compelled to do so in his stead. Therefore, I
accord him great honor for shouldering that burden and mission.”

The holy Tchorkover Rebbe, Rabbi Dovid
Moshe zt’l, once received a letter from a neighboring town requesting that he
help them collect funds so they could construct a communal mikvah. The gabbai
read the letter in the presence of the Rebbe and his son, Reb Yisroel zt’l. The
Rebbe immediately turned to his son and motioned that he should undertake the
responsibility of the appeal. The Rebbe noticed that his son was hesitant and
did not reply. After a minute, one of the Chassidim close to the Rebbe remarked
that because the Chassidim were already so financially strapped they felt the
appeal would bear little fruit and would not have much purpose. The Rebbe
replied by relating the following extraordinary story:

During the late 1500’s the city of Krakow, Poland
was led by the great scholar Rabbi Moshe Isserles zt’l, the famous Rema, who
was the leader of Ashkenazic Jewry. At that time there was a well-known Jew
named Moshe who had various nicknames. Some called him “Moshe Trayger” (Moshe
the Porter) for that was his job and the source of livelihood, while others
referred to him as “Moshe Shikker” (Moshe the Drunk) for obvious reasons. Still
other called him “Moshe Shabbos’nik” because of his unusual custom. Every week he
would put aside some of the money he earned and, on Friday afternoon just prior
to the onset of Shabbos, he would go to the mikvah to purify himself in honor
of the Shabbos. Then he would purchase for himself a cup of mead, an expensive
alcoholic liquor made of fermented honey and water. As he would drink it he
would jovially sing “Shabbos! Shabbos! Shabbos Kodesh!” This was Moshe’s
practice for many years.

One week as Moshe was heading to the mikvah
on Friday, he was accosted by a woman who was wailing aloud, “Moshe is going to
drink and I don’t have money with which to purchase candles for Shabbos.”
Immediately, an internal battle raged within Moshe’s heart. On the one hand, he
knew that he should give the poor woman the money so that she could fulfill the
integral mitzvah of lighting the Shabbos candles. However, his inclination told
him not to forego his weekly custom and enjoyment.

After a few moments his conscience
prevailed and he gave the poor woman his hard-earned money so that she could
kindle the holy Shabbos candles. Moshe proceeded to immerse himself in the
mikvah and then left without his weekly delight. Shortly before Shabbos began
Moshe suddenly died. Because it was so late in the day, there was no time to
bury him before Shabbos so they quietly placed his body in the “room for the
dead” adjacent to the synagogue where it was to remain until after Shabbos.

On Friday night the Rema was in shul when
Moshe appeared to him. “Rebbe”, he began, “in heaven there is a strong
prosecution against you. I am an emissary of the celestial courts and I have
been dispatched to warn you.” The Rema, who was unaware that Moshe was no
longer alive, looked at him and replied, “Moshe! You are drunk; go back home!”
When Moshe claimed that he had died just prior to Shabbos, the Rema refused to
believe him thinking that Moshe was in midst of a routine bout of inebriation.
Still, the Rema decided to be sure and he went into the Bais Medrash and asked
if Moshe the Porter was still alive. The people did not reply because one is
not supposed to relate distressing news on Shabbos. However, some of the young children
told the Rema that Moshe had indeed died and his body was in the side room
until after Shabbos.

The Rema returned and asked Moshe why he
had come. “Rebbe, in heaven they are passing judgment against you because you
do not grant the poor people of Cracow the opportunity to participate in the
community’s charity drives. You decided that because of their difficult
financial state, the needed effort and prodding is not worth the small amount
that they will contribute. Therefore, you do not solicit funds from them at
all. However, by not doing so you are robbing them of an opportunity to have
the great merit of giving charity.” When the Rema asked what he could do to
rectify his error Moshe replied, “From this day forward, accept upon yourself
to expend the effort and trouble to collect and solicit charity even from the
simple and poor of Krakow.”

The Rema then asked, “Moshe, please reveal
to me the merit that you possess that enabled you to inform me of this
prosecution and to act as an emissary of the celestial courts even before you
were buried?” Moshe related the event that occurred just a few hours prior and
how he was willing to selflessly forego his weekly custom and pleasure to help
a complete stranger fulfill the mitzvah of kindling the Shabbos candles. He
explained that when he performed that mitzvah the heavenly scales which weigh
one’s merits against his sins was tipped toward his merits. Therefore, he was
quickly taken from this world before he would have a chance to sin again so
that he would be assured entry into the World to Come.

Moshe then continued, “Rebbe, in order to
truly understand what occurred I must tell you a story. Surely, I need not tell
the great Rebbe about the wondrous events that transpired at the time of the
Purim miracles. Every Jew knows well about the righteousness, holiness, dedication,
and self-sacrifice of Queen Esther. She risked her life for her people even at
the expense of destroying her legacy and her progeny. One can only imagine the
eternal reward that awaited her after she left this world. Indeed, Queen Esther
was privy to every room in the eternal worlds. She traversed every door and
passageway and she enjoyed the Divine Bliss that awaits the most righteous and
holy.

On one occasion however, she arrived at a
certain doorway where the angels denied her entry. She was told that this room
was reserved for those who performed acts of righteousness and mitzvos despite
the challenge of poverty. Although Queen Esther performed the ultimate kindness
and goodness for her people, she did so out of wealth and not poverty, and
therefore she was not allowed into that particular room. Still, Queen Esther
was persistent. Every room in the upper world has its own reward and sense of
closeness to G-d and she felt she was deserving of that room as well. She
claimed that had she been poor she would have done no less and it was not her
fault that she never had the opportunity to perform mitzvos out of poverty.

“Her claims were taken to the celestial
courts to be adjudicated. After hearing her claims the court decided that she
would return to this world again. However, in her second lifetime she would be
an impoverished beggar. Only after she lived a life of poverty and paucity would
she be allowed to enter that room.”

Moshe looked up at the Rema and concluded,
“Rebbe, it was to Queen Esther that I gave away my money so that she could
light Shabbos candles!”

“Isn’t it amazing how time flies? I can’t believe it’s already time to pack up and head home.”

“I agree. Didn’t summer just begin? And now it’s Elul, almost time for school, and Rosh Hashanah not too far in the distance.”

“Speaking of Elul, I feel like I didn’t live up to my last year’s resolutionstoo well. Truthfully, I get frustrated every year at this time, and I really want to do something to change that this year.”

“I know what you mean
because I feel the same way. But this year I am confident that I’ll be
able to do it. I’m joining a new teshuvah program called “Sin Fast”.
It’s a bit radical but the idea is that you become so spiritually
charged that you don’t even want to sin. Their motto is ‘just three shakes a day’. When you daven with enthusiasm and feeling, you have such pleasure out of the three tefillos each day that all of the machinations of the yester hara no longer add up or seem alluring, soyou end up fasting from sin.”

“Sounds interesting. Actually I myself was looking into another program called “South Breach”. The program divides between good inclinations and bad inclinations. You’re supposed to engage in the good inclinations and use to help you boost your spiritual system. But the bad ones you have to stay away from completely. That’s the breach part of it. The guide to the program is Mesillas Yesharim.”

“Truthfully,
there’s a third program I heard about which really sounded feasible and
practical. It’s called “Wait Watchers” and is a regimented program
tailor-made to suit your personal needs for spiritual growth. Before you do things you’re supposed to see what their value is – whether it’s a positive and appropriate action or not. Then, at the end of every week you weigh your actions to see how you’re
doing and if you’re holding up to your commitments. The program is
designed to help train you to think before you do things, hence the name
‘Wait Watchers’.”

“All of these programs sound great. Still, I think the most important prerequisite for any of these programs is commitment and the knowledge that you can really do it. You really can look like the person you want to be and you can effect the change you dream of with proper mentoring and guidance.”